“The decision was taken after the home ministry expressed reservations over his proposed visit due to his recent anti-India statements,” official sources said, adding that the government did not want elements opposed to the present regime in Pakistan to converge on Indian soil for their activities.
Musharraf had been invited to attend a seminar hosted by the Young Presidents Organisation, an international outfit involving influential business leaders. The conference is scheduled to be held in Delhi on Saturday. The former Pakistan president was among the guest speakers at the event.
Some of Musharraf ’s supporters had also applied to the Indian high commission in Islamabad for a visa to visit India around the time he was planning to travel here and the three other metros, sources said.
Musharraf, living in selfexile in Britain, had recently said that India was responsible for creating unrest in Pakistan’s south-western Balochistan province and authorities had “solid evidence” in this regard. He claimed that the involvement of India and Afghanistan in Balochistan was creating unrest in the province. He was also the key architect of the Kargil war.
Almost a decade ago, Musharraf had visited India for the Agra summit and made two more visits in 2005 and 2009. In 2005, he visited India as president to watch an Indo-Pak one-day cricket match and in 2009 to attend a media event after shedding power.
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